Red
by Ry-Rain
Summary: Rachel starts the new school year with a new look, but there's something odd about her new clothes. *FEMSLASH*
1. Chapter 1

_Lima, Ohio_

Rachel took a deep breath as she climbed out of the VW Bug her fathers gave her over the summer. It was the first day of senior year and the singer had done some major thinking over the break. She thought about her on-again-off-again relationship with Finn. She thought about what numbers New Directions would do this year. She thought about returning to Nationals and hopefully even winning. She thought about what she would do after graduation. She thought about what she would wear the first day back.

She thought about everything except what had brought on all this thinking.

Quinn.

The former cheerleader had shown up the night before competition with a new haircut and a seemingly new outlook on life. Rachel had never seen the blonde as happy as she was when she followed Santana and Brittany into the hotel room that night, laughing at something the other blonde had said. She even given Rachel a small smile as she passed. Quinn almost never smiled at her.

"You're blocking traffic, Manhands."

"Be nice Santana."

Rachel turned around and smiled at Brittany, nodding her thanks. She may have been a Cheerio, but she was never as cruel as the others had been. It just wasn't in her nature, no matter how much time she spent with Santana. "Hey guys. Excited for senior year?"

Brittany bounced and nodded. "So excited. I like your outfit Rachel."

Rachel looked down at herself. Her jeans were an old pair she wore around the house when her dads were renovating. They had tears and were a little too long and her shoes were a recent thrift shop purchase, a pair of faded red chucks. When she finally looked back up at the two girls, Santana was looking at her weird. "I take it you disagree Santana?"

"Actually, Berry, and I loath to admit this, but I have to agree with B. You have somehow managed to look hot," the Latina reluctantly answered. "Who dressed you this morning?"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Anyway, thank you Brittany. I appreciated the compliment. I am trying to make my wardrobe a little more New York City friendly. Our trip there made me realize that while Santana could have been a little kinder about her fashion critiques and suggestions, she was correct in her assessment of my clothing." Brittany looked at her blankly and Santana just glared. "Anyway, I guess we should be on our way to class, don't want to be late on the first day."

Rachel spun around and was about to head toward the school when she ran into someone.

"Santana, stop being a bitch."

Quinn.

Rachel looked at her arms where the blonde had grabbed her to keep her from falling. She shook her head, trying to clear the sudden influx of thoughts running through her brain at the simple touch. She looked up at the other girl. "Thank you Quinn, but I'm quite all right." Quinn just nodded. "You can let go of me now."

"Oh, sorry."

"I'll see you all in glee," Rachel said before hurrying off to the class. What the hell was that, she wondered.


	2. Chapter 2

_Univille, South Dakota_

Myka looked at Claudia in disbelief, thinking the other agent had finally left Earth. "There's an artifact that turns people gay?"

The hacker sighed and shook her head. "I don't think it's necessarily turning people gay, whatever it is. I think its heightening, or bringing latent feelings to the forefront."

"And how did you come to believe this?"

Pointing at her monitor, Claudia brought the other agent's attention to a map she had created using stories in local newspapers. "Each dot represents two people who have hated each other for years, have competed in everything, have even had the same boyfriend or girlfriend, but all of a sudden, they fell in love with each other and are currently living happily ever after."

"There's a thin line between love and hate Claudia." Myka jumped and turned around to glare at HG and Mrs. Fredricks sudden appearance, well, more the former than the latter. "Why do you think this is an artifact?"

"The stories just all sound too alike and they've happened within weeks of each other," Claudia answered to Myka, ignoring the fact that HG Wells was standing right in front of her, in the warehouse. "I really think this is something."

Myka sighed. This wasn't really a case she wanted to be working on. It hit a little too close to home, she thought as she glanced at the holograph of HG. She hated the woman. She betrayed her trust and then tried to destroy the world. Sure, Myka was able to stop her, but just barely. The raven haired woman had made her leave her happiest place on Earth, the warehouse.

"Where are these dots Claud?"

Claudia smiled and quickly spun around. "They're all over the Midwest, but the last two were in Ohio."

Myka nodded as she checked her tesla. "Well, Pete and Steve are off after some sports thing. Artie's off visiting Dr. V and Leena's sick. Guess I'm going this one alone."

"I can go with you Myks," Claudia said, bouncing in her seat at the idea of going back out in the field. "Artie actually let me lead a case with Jinksy and I helped with the computer virus thing."

"Someone needs to be at the warehouse Claudia."

"Agent Wells will go with you," Mrs. Fredericks said. The other three women turned to gape at her. "Agent Bering, do you disagree?"

"What good will she do on this mission when she's not even solid Mrs. Fredericks? My hand passed right through her at the book shop back home," Myka argued, moving closer to the pair. "I need someone who can have my back, not just watch it." The older woman just raised an eyebrow. "Mrs. Fredericks, I understand what you are trying to do, but, really?" Myka pulled her hand back and punched Helena. Her eyes widened in shock as her hand hit a solid mass and didn't just fly through the other woman.

"Ow," Helena said in surprise herself, causing Myka to a slight double take. Helena hadn't known that she was actually standing in the warehouse, not just being projected into it.

"So, it's settled then," Mrs. Fredericks said with a smile. "Agent Wells will accompany you to Toledo Agent Bering."


	3. Chapter 3

_Lima, Ohio_

Quinn sat in the back row of glee, watching her fellow club members. Everyone was talking about their summer vacations and gossiping about Rachel's new look. The diva stood at the piano, looking over sheet music and being oblivious to everyone around her, or at least ignoring them. While no one had anything bad to say about her new clothes, they had nothing good to say about her old ones.

The blonde wondered what brought about the change in Rachel. After the whole plastic surgery debacle and resulting Lady Gaga performance, Quinn had thought Rachel would never change anything about herself, for anyone. She looked over at Finn as he banged about on the drums. He's the only person who had nothing to say about his girlfriend, probably hadn't even noticed anything was different with her.

Quinn frowned as she noticed something on Rachel's shoes. There was some kind of writing on the bottom, along the rubber sole. She stood up and walked to the diva. "Hey, Rach, where'd you get those shoes anyway?"

Rachel looked up, scared. "Did you just call me Rach?" Quinn shrugged. "Okay, um, a thrift shop in Toledo. My dads wanted to hit the outlets up there a couple weeks ago and I thought they looked cool and vintage."

"What do they say?" Quinn asked. The brunette frowned. "Did you not notice there was something written on them?"

"No." Rachel sat on the bench and brought her foot up. Quinn bent over to look at the shoes closer. "What do they say?"

"Just keep swimming. Just swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming," Quinn read. "Weird. Why would someone write that on their shoes?" Rachel took her shoe off to look at it herself. "Don't believe me?"

"It's not that." Quinn lifted a finely manicured eyebrow. "It doesn't look like the quotation is written on the shoes, but rather, embroidered. The letters are actually raised a little from the canvas. Also, don't people usually write on the plastic parts of chucks and now the fabric parts?"

"I don't write on my shoes."

"It's a weird line to have on a pair of shoes, and red ones at that. I mean, I would understand if they were blue or even orange like Nemo, but red?" Rachel murmured to herself. Quinn just shrugged. "Thank you for pointing this out Quinn," the brunette said as she pulled her shoe back on. "It certainly makes the shoes a little more interesting."

"No problem Rachel. Um, the theater is showing Double Indemnity tonight and I don't think anyone else would be interested in seeing it with me. You want to go?" Quinn asked nervously.

The diva looked up in surprise. "Oh, sure. I mean, its a school night, but I don't think my dads will say anything," she answered. "It's not like I have a ton of homework. Most of my teachers just took roll then took a nap."

Quinn chuckled. "Yea, mine too. So, I'll pick you up at, say, six? We can grab something to eat before the movie?"

"Sounds good."

"Great," Quinn said, smiling. "It's a date."


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry it took so long to get this updated. I actually have all but the epilogue already written and have just been spreading out posting the chapters because I'm kinda blocked on the last one.

Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

><p><em>Toledo, Ohio<em>

Helena sat across from Myka, with the newly engaged couple sitting between them. She knew the other woman didn't want her on this case and she couldn't really blame Myka. She had tried to destroy the world with the trident, had been planning to attempt it since before she was bronzed. She had felt bad about storing a piece of the trident with Christina, but she needed somewhere no one would ever think of looking.

Myka quickly glanced in Helena's direction then gave her attention back to the couple. She'd been giving her those looks since they left the warehouse and the inventor wanted to know what the brunette was thinking, but knew her questions would not only be ignored, but resented.

"So, before the two of you got together, did either of you get something new?"

The blonde half of the couple, Helena believed her name was Audrey, tilted her head and thought. "I can't think of anything new I had. Actually, I had just gotten rid of a bunch of stuff, donated a lot of old clothes and stuff to Salvation Army." She turned to her partner. "What about you Abby?"

"What do you mean by new? I mean, I do groceries once a week. I had just bought some new books for some online classes I'm taking," Abby answered.

"Was any of it used?" Myka asked.

"Did you smell fudge when there wasn't any fudge?" Helena added. The two women looked at Helena and she just shrugged. Myka sent a small glare, but she just ignored that. She knew the long list of questions agents were suppose to ask.

"I had bought a pair of shoes, red chucks." Myka nodded as Helena wondered what the hell chucks were. "They actually had a line from Finding Nemo embroidered around the sole."

"Finding Nemo?" Myka asked. She had a look that said she was on to something, the raven haired agent had seen it before, but she didn't see what a movie about finding a fictional prince from Jules Verne's novel had to do with being gay. Until recently, Helena didn't even know what being gay meant. "What was the line?"

"That swimming song that Ellen's fish sang," Abby answered.

"Do you still have the shoes?"

"She had to get rid of them," Audrey answered.

"Yea, I recently found out I have a falling arch and the shoe inserts I'm suppose to use wouldn't fit." Myka nodded. "I sold them to a local thrift shop about three weeks ago. I can give you the address."

An hour later, Myka and Helena were standing outside the thrift shop, empty-handed. The shoes were bought the day after Abby had brought them in. Myka was talking to Claudia, trying to figure out their next step while Helena just stared at the horizon and felt the breeze. There were no windows where she had been kept. The wind felt wonderful.

"Claudia traced the purchase to a girl in Lima," Myka said after snapping close the Farnsworth. "She says the town is a little over seventy miles from here and she's working on getting us booked into a hotel."

"What does Claudia think about the shoes?"

Myka laughed. "She thinks they once belonged to Ellen DeGeneres." Helena frowned. "Oh, right. She's a comedian and she's gay."

"This is the same Ellen that Abby mentioned?" Helena asked.

"Yea, she voiced the little blue fish in Finding Nemo. She's also kinda famous for wearing tennis shoes." Myka looked at her and Helena wanted to know what the other woman was thinking, but knew asking was not a good idea. "I guess we're off to Lima."


	5. Chapter 5

_Lima, Ohio_

Santana sat next to Brittany on Quinn's bed, watching the other girl go crazy rummaging through her closet, throwing shirts and pants in their direction. She had already tried on four different outfits, finding something miniscule that she didn't like and she was just going to some boring black and white movie with Berry. She was acting like this whole thing was a date.

That would explain a lot, she thought, tilting her head to get a better look at her friend. Quinn had spent all of glee glaring at Santana every time she insulted Manhands. Plus, why would she invited Rachel of all people to dinner and a movie? Yea, so, she kept saying she was staying away from guys this year. Wait a minute.

"Is this a date?" Santana asked.

Quinn froze. "What? Of course not."

"Q, look at me."

Quinn turned around and glared at Santana. "You asked Manhands out on a date?"

"Would you stop calling her Manhands?"

"Ah ha!" Santana said, pointing her finger accusingly at the blonde. "This is a date!"

"Fine!" Quinn yelled, throwing her sweater down. "Yes, its a date. I like Rachel Berry, so I asked her out to dinner and a movie and now I'm freaking out about what I'm going to wear on my date."

Santana folded her arms across her chest and raised an eyebrow in her friend's direction. "It's Berry, why worry? She normally dresses like an overgrown kindergartner anyway."

"Santana," both blondes hissed at her.

"I think its great Quinn," Brittany said, stretching to reach a shirt at the bottom of the bed. She grabbed a light blue polo and pair of skin tight blue jeans. She stood up and started looking around the room. "You're thinking too hard about what to wear." Spying what she was searching for, Brittany squealed and bounced before grabbing a blue zip-up hoodie and added it to the other clothes. "There. That'll be perfect."

Santana smiled at her best friend as Quinn looked at the clothes and nodded. "Wear your plain chucks. I think Rachel will appreciate the symmetry."

"Are you helping me get dressed for my date?" Quinn asked. "And did you just call her by her real name?"

"Don't you dare tell anyone," the Latina warned. The blondes looked at each other and then rushed forward to pull Santana into a group hug. "Ugh, get off. I have a reputation to protect."

"We should make it a double date!" Brittany exclaimed and Santana groaned. She did not want to go on a double date with Rachel and she did not want to see some stupid black and white movie. "Oh, come on San. I don't really want to see the movie either, but we could at least go to dinner."

"No."


	6. Chapter 6

_Lima, Ohio_

Brittany smiled at Santana as they squeezed into a booth at BreadStix opposite Quinn and Rachel. So far the Latina had been civil to the other brunette and had at least laid off the insulting nicknames, sticking with Berry. The two girls made a cute couple and she could tell Quinn's feelings were reciprocated.

Halfway through dinner, the dancer noticed two older women walk into the restaurant. They both were looking around the place and she frowned when they stopped on the girls' table. A few minutes later, a hostess seated them a couple tables over. One of the women pulled out a weird box thing, Brittany figured it was an iPhone since she seemed to be Facetiming with someone. Shrugging, the blonde turned back to her friends' conversation.

"So, Berry, you never did explain why you changed your look," Santana asked. Brittany squeezed her knee.

Rachel blushed. "I just thought it was time for a change. It's senior year and I've been wearing the same clothes for the past three years. Of course, my ex-boyfriend didn't notice."

"Ex-boyfriend?" Quinn asked.

"Oh, yea, I broke up with Finn right last week," Rachel answered, shaking her head. "I should have never gotten back together with him."

"And those weird shoes?" Santana asked, ignoring everything about Finn.

"I found these in a thrift shop in Toledo." Brittany frowned. The two women seemed to perk up at the mention of Rachel's shoes. "Something wrong Britt?"

Santana turned to her. "B? What's wrong?"

The blonde turned to the two women as they stood up. "Those women are looking at us weird."

"Good evening, I'm Agent Myka Bering from the Secret Service, and this is my partner Agent Wells," the brunette woman said, showing a badge. The four girls just stared back at her. "We couldn't help but overhear one of you say you bought some shoes in Toledo?"

"Um, yea," Rachel said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Why is the Secret Service concerned about a ratty old pair of chucks? There's nothing special about them."

"Are they embroidered with a line from a movie?" the other woman asked. Brittany smiled at her accent and Santana frowned until the blonde squeezed her knee again. Yea, she had a soft spot for British accents, but she loved the Latina.

"Yes, a line from Finding Nemo."

Quinn glared at the two women. "What is this about anyway?"

"Has anything weird happened since you've been wearing the shoes?" Myka asked.

"No."

"Other than Quinn, your arch enemy since seventh grade, asking you out to dinner and a movie and then me and Brittany coming along," Santana scoffed.

Myka and Helena looked at each other. "We think the shoes may have something to do with that," Helena answered. "They use to belong to Ellen DeGeneres."

The four girls looked at the women blankly.

"We're sorry to say this, but we need those shoes," Myka said.

"Are you saying Rachel's shoes turned her and Quinn gay?" Brittany asked.

"Well, yes," Myka answered. "Kind of."

"It's a long story," Helena added.

"I have an extra pair of shoes in Santana's car Rachel," Brittany said, standing up. "Let's go get them, then you and Quinn can continue your date."

"Wait a minute Brittany, I bought these shoes. I like them and I don't care if they've turned me gay," Rachel said, looking at the two agents. "I'm not just going to give them up."

Brittany frowned at Santana, hoping the Latina would help her. "As much as I hate to admit it, B, Berry's right," she said. "Why the hell should we believe them?"

"How many pairs of shoes, even chucks, have you seen with lines from movies actually embroidered in them?" Myka asked.

"I'll give you that these shoes use to belong to Ellen," Santana said, standing up. "But turning the wearer and someone else gay? What the fuck? I mean, I'm from Lima Heights Adjacent and even the crazy people there wouldn't come up with a crackpot idea like that."

"Santana, sit down," Rachel said, earning a glare from the girl. "Look, even if I do believe you, why would I give them up? I mean, I have no clue what would happen once they are no longer in my possession."

"We're gathering quite an audience, why don't we step outside and discuss this?" Myka asked.

Rachel nodded and stood up. Brittany saw her squeeze Quinn's hand before heading toward the door. The blonde dug Santana's keys out of her purse and followed the diva, Myka and Helena not far behind. "I hope giving up the shoes doesn't change anything between you two," Brittany said once they made it outside. "You guys make a cute couple."

Rachel blushed, but a small smile formed on her lips.

"Rachel, wait!" Quinn yelled, running to her. "I have to do this now."

"Quinn, what-" Rachel started but was cut off when Quinn pulled her close and kissed her. Brittany squealed and clapped her hands. "Um, that was nice."

"I had to do that," Quinn said. "The shoes had nothing to do with my feelings for you Rachel. They've been there a long time. I just hope you still feel the same after tonight."

"The shoes don't actually make people gay," Myka interrupted. "We think they just bring the feelings more to the forefront."

"Okay, I'll give them to you," Rachel conceded. "This is so bizarre." Brittany unlocked Santana's car and Rachel sat down in the passenger seat as the blonde started digging in the trunk for another pair of shoes. The brunette pulled the chucks off and handed them to Myka. She then stood up on her tiptoes and kissed Quinn again. "Definitely don't feel any different."

Helena opened a weird, silver looking bag and dropped the shoes into it. There was a big purple flash and she zipped it close. "Grabbed and bagged. We'll tag it when we get back."

Brittany tapped Rachel on the shoulder and handed her another paid of shoes, then walked up to the agents. "One of you guys should wear the shoes back to wherever you're going back to, maybe then you'll be able to say your feelings." The blonde shrugged, locked the car back up and dragged her friends back into the restaurant to finish their dinner.


	7. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

_Univille, South Dakota_

Myka stood in the warehouse, looking at the shoes. She wondered what the tall blonde girl saw that made her suggest that either her or Helena put the shoes on themselves. It wouldn't be the first time either agent had used an arifact, whether on purpose or accident. Hell, they've all been nearly killed by one at some point or another.

"You alright Myka?"

The brunette turned around and smiled softly at Claudia, then placed the shoes on the shelf and entered something into the screen. "I'm fine Clauds, just thinking about something."

The redhead nodded as she sat on a nearby barrel that was overturned. "Myka, this is me you're talking to, I can read you guys like a book," she said. "What's going on?"

"The girl in Lima who had the shoes, she had a friend, this tall blonde. Anyway, the blonde said either me or Helena should wear the shoes back here, said something about us being able to express our feelings, whatever that means."

"Myka, before Helena tried to end the world, she was your friend."

The agent sighed. "I know Claudia."

"I always thought you wanted to be more than friends. I mean, H.G. Wells was one of your favorite authors," Claudia said. "I remember, before Helena was de-bronzed, you told me you thought you could have fallen in love with H.G. if he lived during our time."

"Your point?" Myka asked, turning back to the shoes.

"Put them on Mykes. H.G. is alive during our time. So what if the H stands for Helena and not some masculine name?" Claudia asked, standing up and walking behind Myka. She grabbed the shoes and looked down at them. "They're just your size Agent Bering."

Helena paced the length of what was once her bedroom in Leena's bed and breakfast. Mrs. Frederick was no where to be seen and the inventor had no idea where she was suppose to go at this point. Things were a lot easier when she was just a hologram. As soon as someone pushed a button on that stupid little orb, she was back in the empty room.

Myka watched the other woman from across the hall. This was her chance. Helena was here and in person. She had punched her earlier, had felt her shoulder underneath her fist. She had avoided touching Helena since then, not sure what she'd do if she could really feel her.

"I know you're there Myka."

The agent sighed and pushed herself off the wall and into the bedroom. "Still no sign of Mrs. Frederick?" Helena shook her head as she finally stopped pacing and looked out the window. "I think we should talk."

"What's there to talk about?"

"We use to be friends, Helena," Myka whispered, moving further into the room and sitting on the bed. "You were my best friend. The first one I'd had in a long time."

"What about Pete and Claudia?"

"They're different. Pete's like a big brother and Claudia's like a little sister. They're family, but you, you were different." Myka sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "There was always something holding me back from considering you family."

"I think we all know what that was Myka," Helena answered. "It was your survival instincts kicking in."

"No," the agent said, standing up and walking to the other woman. She grabbed Helena's arm and spun her around. "I was the first to trust you Helena, the first to accept you. Artie hated you and Pete kept saying he was having one of his feelings about you, but I never listened to them." Myka raised her hand to the inventor's cheek, caressing it. "I had feelings for you, Helena. That's why you never became family. I didn't want you to be. I wanted you to be more, more than just my friend."

"What are you saying?" Helena asked.

Myka took a deep breathe and leaned in toward HG. "I love you," she whispered then closed the distance and kissed Helena. They parted only when air became an urgent need. "I love you so much, Helena. I think that's why I felt so hurt by what you did, but that doesn't matter now. All that time, being able to see you, but not touch you, made me realize how I feel."

"Are you wearing the shoes?" Helena asked, refusing to look down at Myka's feet.

"Nope," she answered with a grin. "This is all me."

Helena smiled. "Myka," she whispered. "I love you too," she said, pulling the agent back into a kiss.


End file.
